“Some parents have created just out of the box ideas for Halloween and it came to me that why can't we do this for students in wheelchairs?” Cayla Seaton, Special Education Teacher, said.

The Troy, Illinois grade school in the Triad District has a few students that use wheelchairs.

“He has Apert Syndrome, which causes their bones to fuse prematurely,” says Jackie Bruns, Mom of Trae. “So, he's had over 18 surgeries.”

Tuesday, kindergarten student Trae Bruns was working alongside these fifth graders on his Halloween costume.

“Right now, we're trying to make Trey and Wesley Halloween costumes since they didn't get to do Halloween,” says Kyra Stepzinski, Fifth Grade Student. “I know Trae didn't get to do Halloween the last two years.”

“The last two Halloweens he hasn't gotten to trick or treat,” says Bruns. “He's either been in the hospital or been ill.”

The fifth-grade students started working in September to have his PJ Masks costume done in time for Halloween.

“I just want people to know that just because somebody looks different doesn't mean that they`re not like the rest of us,” says Bruns. “He may look different, but he likes to do everything everybody else loves to do.”

Tuesday afternoon, Trae was trying on his Cat Boy costume from the animated series PJ Masks.

“We wanted to show that this is a community element,” says Sarah Phelps, Elementary Computer Science Teacher. “Maker spaces are meant to be a community fixture. So, to be able to use that to give back to other students and to work together and come together is the true nature of what we are trying to do.”